David Carradine’s Death — Punch In The Face

June 8, 2009

A few thoughts upon hearing about David Carradine’s death. For the uninitiated, Carradine starred in the 70’s television series Kung Fu and more recently as “Bill” in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Billmovie series. Carradine’s body was found hanging from the closet of a hotel room in a luxury hotel in Bangkok with a yellow rope tied around his neck and a black rope around his (ahem) genitals:

Didn’t that already happen, like, 5 years ago? I could’ve sworn Carradine died from autoerotic asphyxiation in a hotel in Thailand in 2004. Are the news reports certain this just happened? Is it possible the media is recycling the tragic deaths of low-profile actors?

Even if his death did just happen this past week, everyone who heard the news had the same first reaction: “The scary, creepy guy from Kung Fu was found dead by autoerotic asphyxiation in a Bangkok luxury hotel? [thoughtful pause] That sounds about right.”

Everyone’s second reaction: “So that’s why they call it Bangkok.”

Apparently, Carradine was 72 years old. 72? That’s it? He looked like he was 72 in ’72. This guy always looked old enough to be Yoda’s uncle.

Finally, what is it about quality entertainers and autoerotic asphyxiation? First, it was INXS’ Michael Hutchense. Then, it was the guy who played Mikey from the Life Cereal commercials. Now, its David Carradine. (Okay, the kid from the Life Cereal commercial did not have an autoerotic asphyxiation issue. But he was a quality entertainer, wasn’t he?) What is the possible connection between Hutchense, an Australian heartthrob rock star, and Carradine, a reclusive sometimes Hollywood star of the martial arts genre? Let’s see: INXS’ most popular album was “Kick” and Carradine starred in movies that featured a lot of kicking . . . Wait — I got the connection! When they both tried getting their kicks, they ended up kicking the bucket.